bread and with it

A meal consisting primarily of bread, accompanied by whatever else may be available—by implication, little or even nothing.

1898Morning World–Herald (Omaha NE) 25 Aug 2/1, The “settlers’[’] of those days may have had to live largely on “bread and with it,” but no heroes have greater claims on the world’s history than the pioneers of Nebraska.”1904Boston Jrl. (MA) 11 Aug 7/2, People have a wretched perverse way of coming to luncheon when the housewife proposes to get along on “bread and with it.” 1942WhippleJoshua 18 UT (as of c1860), But Brother Lee interrupted himself. ‘Howsomever, come in an’ set a spell. . . We ain’t got only “bread-and-with it,” but —’. . . No, thank you, she thought; your bread would be corn pone and your ‘with-it’ salt pork.a1975LunsfordIt Used to Be 162 sAppalachians, ”Bread and with it” means nothing but bread, as “I had bread and with it for breakfast.” 1997 in 2016DARE File—InternetUT (as of 1929), If nothing else they served bread (homemade) and jam. Mother called it “bread and withit.”2009IbideKY, “What’che all havin’ fer supper”? “ahhh. . . same ol’ thang, bread-n-withit.” . . I guess it meant cornbread and whatever momma fixed with it.2009PerryCoop 280 nWI, I tell him about our stash of bakery bread. “Oh, that’s the best thing to feed pigs,” he says. “Bread and withit.” “Withit?” “Yah,” says Big Ed, his eyes twinkling. “Bread and whatever comes withit!”2016DARE File—InternetNW (as of early 1900s), My Aunt Jackie once told me that when the kids would ask what was for dinner she would commonly say “Bread and with it”. Living on a dairy farm sometimes the “with it” was just a bowl of seasoned milk to dip the bread in.